YURBURG, LITHUANIA

Special Announcement
the Restoration of Yurburg Jewish Cemetery in November 2006
and June 2007

May 2001 -
Zalman Kaplan, a Yurburg survivor and Vilna resident,
tracked down a family group of Yurburg descendants traveling
in Vilna, after they had been to their ancestral town of
Yurburg (Jurbarkas). He has heard of them through the
"Litvak grapevine."

2003 - Zalman
Kaplan approached that group of Yurburg descendants
from Canada, Mexico, Israel and the US, to undertake
restoration of the Yurburg Jewish Cemetery.

March 3, 2005 - A group of Yurburg
descendants incorporated the non-profit organization, "Friends of the Yurburg Cemetery, Inc" in the United States.

May 2005 - On a second trip to Yurburg,
representatives of "Friends" met with members of the Yurburg (Jurbarkas) town
council and agreed to cooperate with the renovation and
preservation of the Yurburg Jewish Cemetery.

The "Friends" organization immediately raised money to fund
the restoration.

With initial funds raised, the "Friends" made
contact with the Jewish
Community of Kovno (Kaunas),
which formed a committee to manage the rebuilding of the
Entrance Gate.

October, 2006 - Construction of the gate was
completed, and it now appears as it did before the Shoah.
[see image below]

Reconstructed Entrance Gate to the
Yurburg Jewish Cemetery

(Completed in Nov. 2006)

Funded by the "Friends of the Yurburg Jewish Cemetery, Inc."

Managed by the Yurburg
Jewish
Cemetery Restoration Committee of the Kovno Jewish Community

In the most recent news (Nov. 15, 2006) The Friends of the Yurburg Jewish Cemetery announces that the Dartmouth
College
Hillel has chosen the Jewish
Cemetery of Yurburg as its summer, 2007, site for its
ongoing Project
Preservation.

In January 2007, Rabbi Edward Boraz of
the Dartmouth College
Hillel and Ethan Levine
traveled to Yurburg, Kovno and Vilna to make arrangements
for the June 2007 restoration.

In June 2007, 15 student volunteers from
Dartmouth College plus six others traveled to Yurburg to
restore the cemetery. They successfully accomplished the
following between June 14th and June 20th:

Erected a new iron fence (over 700
feet long) with a Jewish motif around the cemetery to
replace the decaying concrete and iron rod Soviet-era
fence. See photos below.

We have made a substantial beginning with the
completion of the gate restoration; now with the official
recognition of the United States
Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage
Abroad, and under
the direction of the Dartmouth College Hillel, we have the
opportunity to see the fulfillment of our original goal of
fully rehabilitating and restoring the Yurburg Cemetery.

Yurburg, Lithuania

Yurburg, Lithuania is located on the banks of
the Neman (Nemunas) River. In the early 1900s, the Neman River
was the border between Lithuania to the North and East Prussia
to the South. In 1650 there were a few Jews documented living
in the town. They became merchants and prospered in the town.
They were owned lumber yards, purchased farm produces and
resold them in the town, among other professions, and
generally became the middle class, with the native Lithuanians
being for the most part, farmers. The Jewish population grew
to over 2000 by 1900, when conditions worsened and many began
to emigrate to the America, South Africa, Australia, Uraguay,
Paraguay, Argentina and to Palestine. There were strong
Zionist and socialist activities in Yurburg from 1900 through
the end in 1941.

In an article by William Berton of Saginaw,
Michigan, in the genealogical publication "Landsman" Volume
IV, Numbers 2-3, on page 19, it is stated that "according to
Berl Kagan, Jurbarkas (Yurburg) is one of the oldest Jewish
settlements in Lithuania, dating back at least to 1593. In
1650 there were only about 8 to 10 Jewish families in 7
houses. In the 17th century, Yurburg Jews had the
responsibility for collecting taxes from the surrounding
towns. Jews from Kovno came there to conduct their business.
Jewish population figures are given as follows: 2,333 in
1764-1766; 2550 in 1862; 1887 in 1927, 2,350 (31% of the
total population) in 1897,and about 2350 before the
Holocaust." Between June and September 1941, after the the
town was occupied by the Germans, the Jews of Yurburg were
murdered by Lithuanians. Berton also states that "other town
name variations are Jurburg, Jurbarak and Jurbarski."

The Wooden Synagogue in Yurburg

Built in 1790, destroyed in 1941 (from
a 1926 postcard)

There was a famous wooden synagogue built in
the town in 1790. In the Encyclopedia Judaica, in the
article on Lithuania, there are pictures of it. Also see
article on Jurbarkas. Also there is a print (plate 73) of it
in the book Wooden Synagogues, by Piechotka, published in
Warsaw in 1959. The Nazi forced the Jews to tear down their
beloved synagogue before all the Jews of Yurburg were
murdered in July 1941 by the Lithuanians under the control
of the Nazis.

In 2002, photos taken by Ben H. Craine in
Yurburg in 1927 were found in his sons basement. They
include some of the sharpest images of the interior of the
synagogue available and are displayed here. 1927 Photos by Ben H.
CraineNEW 10/2002

Click above to go to the Yizkor Book

This book was written by former Jewish residents
and survivors of Yurburg to help preserve the memory and
knowledge of their beloved destroyed community. It was
published in 1991 in Israel by the Organization of Former Residents of Yurburg,chairman: Shimon
Shimonov (Shderot David Ha'Melech 1, Tel Aviv, Israel; cost
was $30 in 1993). The book is mostly in Hebrew, with a five
page English summary. Consequently, until now most of the
contents have not been available to the English speaking
community. Here we are attempting to provide translations to
the public. Translated pages are reproduced here with
permission from the Organization of Former Residents of
Yurburg. Those of us who lost
relatives from the town of Yurburg never knew what happened
to them; now fifty years later, we learn the horrible truths.

Translations Funded by
the Ellis Family of Milwaukee
In memory of the Members of the Meir Eliashevitz and
Meir Krelitz Families Who Were Victims of the Shoah

Translations Funded by
the Beiles Family of Canada
In memory of the Members of the Beiles and Kizell
Families Who Were Victims of the Shoah

Review of the English
Translation of the Yurburg Yizkor Book, By Professor
Dov Levin, Oral History Department Hebrew University
(noted expert on Lithuanian Jewry)

You do not have to be a bibliographer in
order to understand that Yizkor Books of Jewish
communities which were destroyed in the Holocaust are
still being published, but there is no doubt that their
number has decreased.

One of these books is the "Yurburg Yizkor Book",
published recently, and probably most readers were not
even aware of its existence. The main innovative
uniqueness of this book expresses itself in the quality of
its editing as well as its content. It has two parts,
written at different times, with an interval of several
decades between them. Every part embodies much assorted
material of this old and special community, due to its
location, the composition of its population and its
economic and cultural situation.

The first part of the book was published in
Jerusalem in 1991, in Hebrew, by "The Organization of
Former Residents of Yurburg in Israel" with the active
participation of, and edited by, Zevulun Poran
(Petrikansky). This translated part extends to over 2/3
(556 pages) of the English book under discussion. The
editor of this book, Joel Alpert, helped by assistant
editor Josef Rosin, was particularly careful to include
all Hebrew and Yiddish material, insisting that the
translation should be exact and that names of people and
places would be properly translated into English. It was
his intention to include general information about the
town and its Jewish community; memoirs and authentic
descriptions written by members of the community who grew
up in the town almost until the time of its destruction;
hundreds of thrilling photos of generations of families
and of the day by day life of Yurburg Jews. But what may
be of special interest for the genealogists among the
readers are the lists of names of Yurburg Jews: those who
were privileged to die naturally and be buried in the
community cemetery, as well as those who were murdered by
the Nazis and their Lithuanian neighbors from way back,
and also the few survivors.

No less interesting and thrilling is the
additional material collected and added to the second part
of the book by the industrious editor and compiler Joel
Alpert. Thanks to his energy and personal motivation to
widen the circle of more participants interested in
commemorating Yurburg Jewry, the 180 pages of the second
part include memoirs, documents and photos of former
residents of the town and its vicinity, of people who have
been living in the USA for a long time, such as Naividel,
Eliashevitz, Laden, Feinberg, Krelitz, Rosin-Hilelson,
Craine and others. This part also contains several essays
written by Israeli residents who have a special affinity
to the Yurburg community, either as a result of family
connections or because they are engaged in historical
research concerning this community: Professor Ze'ev
Bernstein from the Tel-Aviv University, Professor Dov
Levin from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Gita
Abramson-Bereznitsky and others.

Particular mention and praise should be
given to the B.A. thesis "Holocaust in Jurbarkas" prepared
in 1998 in Vilnius University by student Ruta Puisyte
under the guidance of Professor Meyer Shub from this
University. Apart from the historical importance of this
work it is praiseworthy to note that this Lithuanian young
lady showed a great deal of personal courage, integrity
and bravery to reveal those local Lithuanians by name, who
were the murderers of their Jewish neighbors.

It is also worthwhile mentioning the wide
ranging and moving essay "A Journey to My Past" by Fania
Hilelson-Jivotovsky.

In summary, it seems that judging from the
quality of the material included in this book, it can be
considered a small encyclopedia, which could serve as a
model for similar books.

As can be understood from the short review
above, there is no doubt that we are speaking about a
significant innovation, thanks to the courage of the
editor in presenting a book to the reader containing
facts, memories and the description of a way of life
covering a period of about a dozen generations, who were
residents of a Jewish town and who today are spread all
over the world, the common denominator being: "One
generation passes on its history and ideas to the next."

The Talmud Torah - Hebrew School in
Yurburg

(from a 1926 postcard)

According to Jack Cossid,
who emigrated from Yurburg in 1937 at age 19, the town was
almost totally Jewish. They were the middle class, the
merchants, whereas the non-Jews were mostly farmers and
lived in the countryside around the town. In 1920, the
town established a secular high school, the Gymnasium, in
which secular topics such as physics and calculus were
taught. The town had at most about 3000 residents, most of
whom were Jewish.

The Yurburg Cemetery in June 1998 -
photo by Gerrard W. Rudmin

The Intact Jewish Cemetery in Yurburg

Photos below taken during the summer
of 1995 by the FAST Genealogical Service - Commissioned by
Don Levinsohn

It is well known that the Nazi not only
murdered the Jews and destroyed their towns, but also
desecrated and destroyed the Jewish cemeteries all over
Europe. In 1994 Milton Blackstone of La Jolla California,
travelled to Lithuania in search of still existing Jewish
cemeteries and came upon the
intact Jewish cemetery in
Yurburg. In the summer of 1995, Don Levinsohn commissioned
photographs to be taken of the headstones in the Yurburg
Jewish cemetery. Joel Alpert provided The List of Names- appearing on
headstones from the readable photos. Also make sure you
search the All
Lithuania Data Base of
JewishGen for the names of your family. There is more
information from the cemetery headstones recorded there.

Left: Gravestone of Leah Naividel Krelitz,
daughter of Hillel Naividel, and mother of Krelitz family members mentioned above.

Photos supplied by Mimi Moses, of
the headstone of her great-grandmother, Risha Gittel
Kophelonva (1853 - 1936) and photo of Risha.

Monument inscription: "The Important and
Modest Woman, Mrs. Risa Gittel, the daughter of Reb.
Koppel Freeman Died with a Good Name on the 8th Day of
Yaar in 5696 (1936). May Her Soul Be Bound Up in the Bond
of Everlasting Life...."

The relatives (her brother and sisters) in
the picture stayed in Lithuania and perished during the
Holocaust.

Other Resources:

U.S. Holocaust Museum

The Washington, D.C. museum has a
database of documents you can search for references to
Jurbarkas (Yurburg). Click here to launch your
search, or here to learn about the museum. Click here to find our how to view the Yurburg Yizkor (Memorial) Book at the U.S.
Holocaust Museum Library
and the Hebrew College in
Brookline, Massachusetts.

Search the All
Lithuania Data Base of
JewishGen for the names of your family. There is more
information from the cemetery headstones recorded
there.

I have just studied your web page with
great interest as my grandfather came from Jurbark.

My grandfather, was Jacob VELONSKY (b
c1878) who came to London UK when aged about 20 and
remained there until his death in 1935. His twin
sister Esther DIAMONDSTEIN however went North to Leeds
UK before moving to USA.

We know from gravestone inscriptions
that their father, Abraham, was a Cohen.

I have discovered from naturalization
documents, thanks to generous help from two
experienced JewGenners in San Francisco and LA, that
Esther was born in Jurbark. I have also managed to
track down Esther's granddaughter who is alive and
well in CA.

Esther and her family came to the US
from Toronto, Canada on the Canadian Pacific Railway,
arriving at the port of Detroit, Michigan on April
1st, 1904.

From: Apexmarc@aol.com

Date: Wed, 29 Dec 1999

Subject: Letters of Interest

Here are two letters that should be of
interest to those who read the Shtetlinks page on
Yurburg. The first letter is dated Nov. 6, 1928
written in Yiddish with a photo:

The second letter also came from
Lithuania and was dated Oct. 10, 1931. Georgenburg
is the way that Mordechai spelled the town. The
photo showed an elderly man, with beard and kipa,
sitting in a chair and holding a book. It reads:

"Dear Children: Thank God I feel
better, but still not competely well. But what can
I do-old is not young. I don't want you to worry
about me because I know that the economy in
America is not good, and so are your business. God
bless you for everything that you have done for
me. If not for you I would be dead already. God
should help you and your business. You should
become rich like Rothschild, then it will be good
for everybody. Today I received $100 that you sent
to me and I paid my debts. Thank you for your good
heart and for not forgetting about my difficult
situation. In the day of your father's death and
my brother Aaron's anniversayr of death I will go
to the Synagogue to pray and to say Kaddish in his
memory. Regards from my daughter Chana Rachel. She
is now for eight days in Kovno by a doctor. Her
husband still does not work but maybe he will get
a job when the summer season willstart. Regards to
my nephew Chanoch-Zundl and his wife Rosa and son
Aron, regards to my nephew Jacob and his wife Hena
and their children Ahron and Meier. Regards to my
nephew Alchanan, his wife Lea Rachel and daughter.
Regards to Abraham Nisen and his family, Jehuda
Leib, doctor and family, Tzila, doctor, Esther,
with her daughters Lea Malke with the children,
Chana Rachel, Frank Schwartz with her husband,
Doctor Michal and his wife Eta, children from
Iochai Shmuel, ala ha shalom, regards to my
newphew Isaac Kommel.

Dear Child, If it is not too hard
for you to make easier my difficlut situation it
will help me alot. I can't ask you because of
what's happening now in America. Give my regards
to your bothers and sister Sarah."

Your old Uncle Mordechai
Jacob Kommel

From: DBH12345@aol.com

Date: Wed, 19 Jan 2000

Subject: Yurburg Yizkor Book

Having spent several hours reading
the material that has been translated from the
Yurburg Yiskor book, I can't tell you how impressive
it is. It wasn't all a pleasant experience, but
deeply moving and important nonetheless.

Best,

David Hoffman

From: "Mildred
Young" <MNMYoung@worldnet.att.net>

Subject: Re: Jurbarkas, Lithuania

Date: Wed, 3 Jan 2001

I just have been into the Yurburg
Shtetlinks Page and the Yurburg
Yizkor
Book. I am so drained and
sadden to read of the stories of the Jewish people in
Lithuania. I have watched documentaries and read about
the Holocaust, but it still upsets me to hear of how
evil man is to man. God have mercy on us all.

Mildred

From: "rthacker"
<rthacker@gateway.net>

Subject: Arenstein family in Jurbarkas

Date: Wed, 7 Mar 2001

Dear Mr. Alpert,

About a week or two back my cousin
Mr. Jeffrey R. Stern sent you an E-mail regarding
our great grandfather who we understand was a Doctor
in Jurbarkas before World War II. We share an aunt
who lives in Newington, Ct. who is the source of
this information.

Her father was named Israel Harold
Arenstein (or Arnstein). His brother was named
Louis. Both came to America from Lithuania. Israel
was my grandfather,and Louis was Jeffrey's
grandfather. I do not know when Louis came over,
but it was before Israel.

I work in public administration for
the Commonwealth of Virginia, (live in Richmond)
so I know word of the mouth documentation may be
true, but it is not what I think I know, It is
what I can document that matters. I have viewed
your website on Jarbarkas since last December and
have wondered if a connection between our family
and it's roots could be documented. Last week I
obtained the documentation that establishes the
link.

Louis Arenstein became an American
citizen in 1918. My grandfather Israel arrived in
New York City in July 1911, But did not become a
citizen until 1944. Last week I received papers
from the INS.When World War II broke out in
December 1941, Israel was still considered an
alien. As an alien Israel had to file papers
informing the U.S. Government who his overseas
relatives were. The papers that I received are not
very clear but this is what they say as he listed
them.

ballew Arenstein Russian mother
Yurbarkas Lithuania

Dora " " sister Known "

Morris " " Brother Yurbarkas, "

Julius " " " Yurbarkas

by Dora's name he also stated (now
married?)

This declaration was dated December
30, 1941. In it he also stated that he was born in
Yurbarkas in Known, Lithuania on 11-25-93.

This documentation indicates (does
not prove) that our family had family in Jarbarkas
at the time of the Holocaust.

My aunt tells me that her parents
tried to convince the rest of the family to come
to America, because Hitler had come into power in
Germany and things looked bad in that part of the
world. The family refused to leave because they
had a nice home there and did not want to give it
up. My aunt said that finally " their letters
stopped coming"

She never knew what happened to
them. Her parents gave up hope and burned up the
letters years later. Now Jeffrey and I only know
what she can tell us. My aunt is in her seventies
now and with the passing of time memory can become
faint.

Your Web site on Yurburg, Lithuania
is a blessing to us. I send her the section on the
destruction of Yurburg so she would know what had
happened so many years ago. It was hard on her,
but I gave her a choice to know of not to know and
she chose to know.

My aunt indicates to me that her
grandfather (the doctor) who lived in Jarbarkas
name was Jacob Arenstein. She also indicates to me
that he died a year or two before World War II
broke out.

We have searched Appendix Number 4
on your web site and think that Yudel Arshtein
might be Israel's brother Julius. My aunt
remembers that Julius was an electrical engineer
by trade. In your web site Yudel was listed as an
electrician by trade. Could the other brother
Morris be Monik who is listed on the web site? The
web site list them as brothers. The difference in
Lithuanian and English may explain the difference
in spelling.

If our great grandfather (the
Doctor) died just before the war is it possible
that no monument had been placed at his grave site
when the Germans sweep into town?

Do you have any suggestions where
we can search for additional sources of
information ? Was a census conducted in that area
around 1940 ? As I understand it all Jews were
made to register once a year at their synagogue.
The government would come around and copy the
synagogue's record for their own purposes. Do you
think that these records might still exist ? Do
you known if we might find addition information at
YAD VASHEM ?

Any information or hints of places
to research will be appreciated. Thank You for all
your hard work in placing this information on the
web.

Roy A. Thacker

Date: 23 Nov 2001

From: "David Beirman"
<david@aicc.org.au>

Subject: [Altman Family in Yurburg]

Sunday October 28th 2001

Dear Mr Alpert,

When I started researching I never
imagined that the little town of Yurburg (Yerberig)
would be even mentioned on the internet. What I found is
so immense, the information stupendous. I don't not know
why I didn't think to search the internet before for my
husband's family who all came from Yurburg and
Smalininkai ('Shmalenken'). I have begun the search and
printed reams. Now to contact the people whose families
came from Yurburg.

Only three members of the Altman family
got out of Europe before 1939. Eight others were
murdered in 1941 in Yurburg.

My husband, David Beirman, knew very
little about his mother's family left in Yurburg after
her parents and brother Shmuel, Perla (nee Berman) and
little Myer sailed for Australia in 1929. Brother and
sister William and Rachel Altman went to America in the
1920's.

The Altman family I've located on your
web site were murdered in 1941 in Yurburg. Their names
are: Altman: Riva, Natan, Shmuel, Avraham, Hirsch,
Fania, Chiene, Chume-Marie. Are any of these people
mentioned anywhere?

To my astonishement KOPEL ALTMAN from
Kovno was found in Germany and placed on the Lithuanian
Survivors List in 1946. He must be a cousin. I do not
know how to trace him but have placed his name on
various survivors lists.

I am also trying to locate memebers (if
any) of the Berman family from Yurburg. Isaac Berman
owned the soda family in Yurburg.He died before the war.
All the Berman family left Lithuania before the war.

I cannot find reference to Berman the
Tinsmith of Yurburg.

Your web site is stupendous. I look
forward so much to getting in contact with people whose
families lived in Yurburg. This town was intriguingly
special - I look forward to learning as much as I can.

Yours sincerely,

Elizabeth Beirman

Dear Mr Alpert,

My name is David Beirman. My maternal
grandparents were Samuel Altman who left Yurburg for
Sydney in 1929 and my Grandmother's maiden name was Pera
Berman whose family owned the Soda Factory in Yurburg.
All the Bermans came to Australia before WWII.

Two of my grandfather's family Rachel
and Willy Altman left for Boston in the 1920s.I now know
that 7 of the Altmans (my great uncles and Aunts)
perished in Yurburg during the Shoah.

I know very little about any of them .
Your web site is a blessing and a glimpse into a past
which was previously a mystery.

Shalom

Dr David Beirman

Director Israel Government Tourist
Office (Australasia & SW Pacific)

Date: Thu, 11 Dec 2003

From: cabrams@ccc.edu

Subject: English Translation of the
Yurburg Yizkor Book and the Shtetlinks Web Site

Hi Mr. Alpert,

My paternal grandfather was born in
Yurburg - Bernard Rochco, son of Moshe Menachem and
Henya Riba Rochco. His brother, my great uncle Israel
Rahaza (Rochco) wrote a brief article in the Yurburg
Yizkor book which has been very helpful in piecing
together the family story. The surname was changed
from Abramowitz by his father, who apparently owned a
bath house (THE Bath House), and Rochco is similar to
the word "to wash" in Hebrew, and from Abramowitz to
Abrams at Ellis Island. I've heard also that the name
was changed to avoid conscription in the Lithuanian
army.

My family was deeply moved by the
picture on the website (picture Y26) of my great
grandmother's (Henya Riba Rochco's) grave in the
Yurburg cemetery. The ALD also lists my great
grandfather's gravestone in the database, and I hope
someday to visit Yurburg to visit their graves and the
town in which they lived.

Thank you so much for your work on the
site and for the Translation of the Yurburg Yizkor
book! It has been very
moving and important to me and my family.

Here's a story of four brothers. Two
brothers of my MAGIDOWITZ family who originated in
Jurbarkas etc (see subject line) went to Chester, PA
and Buffalo, NY. It is possible that one brother (or
both) changed the name from MAGIDOWITZ to DAVIS. One
of these brothers is supposed to have had an English
wife. Time frame circa 1905 - could have been a few
years before. One of these brothers travelled from
Jurbarkas to Leeds, England with my grandmother Zelda
MAGIDOWITZ (later known as Jane) b. abt. 1889. She
stayed in Leeds and married my grandfather in 1907.
The man she travelled with was her uncle. Her father's
brother. Her father was Azriel Zelig MAGIDOWITZ b.
1865 d. 1934 m. in abt. 1888 Esther b. 1869 d. 1941.

Azriel Zelig had a wharf-side depot on
the River Nemunas. Every time a boat came in, or went
out, he was entrusted with valuable parcels, money,
etc. whatever that was to be delivered in Jurbarkas.
It was a job that his father (Benjamin) before him had
done. In the warm summer months, Azriel Zelig's wife
Esther, ran a kiosk with sandwiches and drinks, on the
wharf. The fourth known brother Aaron (Orzig)
MAGIDOWITZ m. Ethel Raizel (b. c. 1872 d. c. 1936)
lived and died in Jurbarkas but his descendants might
have travelled to USA. I would appreciate anyone with
any thread of information writing to me.